Cheap Eater

Standard Grill far from standard

Restaurant inside Westmont grocery eliminates middleman

April 12, 2012|By Kevin Pang, Chicago Tribune reporter

To some, Standard Grill's best feature will be its drinks selection. Walk 30 yards to the wine/beer department, select your drinks, and bring to the restaurant without markup or corkage fee. Or, draft and bottled beer run $4, wines and cocktails $7 — among the more diner-friendly prices in town. Check out the Standard Bloody Mary, with North Shore Distillery vodka, a house made bloody mary mix and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

There's a no-cash policy like the rest of the market, only credit and debit cards accepted. Aside from ordering at the counter, the rest is full service, from a 20-something cadre of walking Crest Whitestrips advertisements. There's an over-eagerness to please, to a point where each of our four entrees were brought out by four waiters simultaneously. But this is the cynical urbanophile in me fussing; I can never fault their Chotchkies/Flingers-level sunniness. It makes me lament Standard Grill's no-tipping policy, though I was told the servers are appropriately compensated.

A stroll through the market is an effective post-meal workout. Every corner of this 33,000-square-foot grocery was conceived for those who view food more as artistry than sustenance: the meat department with a dry-aging cabinet, a seafood department with monkfish, plus a bakery, a sushi island, a juice bar et al. The difference between this and your neighborhood Shop 'n Save is that of the Ivy League and remedial school.